Scientology and the Search for Significance

What do Scientologists believe? How can we learn from them?

We live successfully when we coordinate affinity (emotions), reality, and communication (the exchange of ideas). This is the ARC triangle. When we increase Knowledge, Responsibility, and Control, we improve our lives and take control over our environment. This is the KRC triangle.

The "tone scale" locates our behavior from -40 ("Total Failure") to +40 ("Serenity of Being"). Emotions, physical health, mating behavior, and ability to deal with truth can help identify our place on the tone scale.

Those who have achieved the State of Clear may proceed onto the Upper or OT (Operating Thetan) Levels. These are designated OT I to VIII, and are open only to those who have been invited into the process. OT VIII is granted only at sea, aboard the Freewinds, the Scientology ship. Teachings which lead to these levels have been guarded zealously by the movement, but some elements have been leaked by followers or entered into court records over the years.

One example of these teachings is Hubbard's description of Xenu, an alien ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy." He brought billions of beings to Earth (originally called Teegeeack) 75 million years ago in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes, and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls stuck to the bodies of the living; alien souls continue to do this today, creating many of our problems and diseases. They are called "Body Thetans"; advanced Scientologists work hard to remove them and their effects. There can be millions of them inside a person's body. Scientology can "clear the planet" of them, solving all our problems.

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"Auditing" is one-on-one communication with a trained Scientology counselor ("auditor"). An E-meter (electropsychometer) is used to measure small changes in electrical resistance. The follower (a "preclear" or PC) unburdens himself of specific traumas and bad decisions, often by answering specific questions. The E-meter helps locate areas of concern. Auditing is said to lead to improved IQ, enhanced memory, and general happiness.

At "Clear," the thetan is able to recall every moment of its life, including its own conception. As a result, the thetan can be freed of its body ("exteriorization"). It can then roam the universe, stroll on Mars, and even create new universes. In this way, it recovers its immortality.